He's a Dragon

He's a Dragon
Russian theatrical release poster
Russian Он – драко́н
Directed by Indar Dzhendubaev
Produced by Timur Bekmambetov
Natalya Smirnova
Igor Tsay
Mariya Zatulovskaya
Screenplay by Indar Dzhendubaev
Sergey Dyachenko
Aleksey Arsenev
Based on The Ritual
by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko
Starring Maria Poezzhaeva
Matvey Lykov
Stanislav Lyubshin
Ieva Andrejevaite
Pyotr Romanov
Music by Simon Finley
Cinematography Sergei Trofimov
Edited by Mariya Likhachyova
Production
company
Bazelevs Film Company[1]
Mindstream Productions
Splendid Film
Release date
  • December 3, 2015 (2015-12-03) (Russia)
Running time
 107 minutes[2]
Country Russia
Language Russian
Budget $ 18,000,000
Box office 126,557,888 (Russia, February 2016) CN¥60.1 million (China)[1]

He's a Dragon, also known as I Am Dragon[3] (Russian: Он – дракон, translit. On – drakón) is a 2015 3D Russian romantic fantasy adventure film directed by Indar Dzhendubaev and produced by Timur Bekmambetov's company Bazelevs, starring Maria Poezzhaeva and Matvey Lykov.[1][2] The film is loosely based on Marina and Sergey Dyachenko's fantasy novel The Ritual.

The plot of the film is about Princess Miroslava becoming kidnapped by a dragon and carried away into his castle on a remote island. Mira is forced to leave everything behind, including her relatives. Now she is held captive by a mysterious young man named Arman, but she does not know who he is and what is he doing on the island.

It was released in Russia on December 3, 2015.[2]

Plot

Princess Miroslava (Maria Poezzhaeva), called Mira is betrothed to Igor. Her father and sister, Yaroslava think she's immature because she still likes fairy tales and playing with toys. According to an ancient custom, Mira is placed on a boat deck in her wedding finery to be sent across the water to her future husband, Igor. As Igor pulls her boat toward him, his people sing an ancient wedding song.

In the middle of the wedding, a dragon captures Mira. She is held prisoner in a cave. There, Mira meets a strange young man who cannot remember his name. Mira believes him another prisoner and calls him Arman (Matvey Lykov). Soon she discovers that Arman is the dragon who abducted her. He lives in human form, holding back the inner beast, but sometimes turns into a dragon against his will. As a dragon, Arman is unable to control himself.

Arman shows Mira the island and a place for her to create a home. He tells her that male dragons had long lived on the island. As a dragon boy he was allowed to choose whether to stay human or become a dragon. He chose to remain human until a dragon slayer killed his father. In his grief and rage, he becomes a dragon gaining the knowledge of all dragons who came before him. Realizing that dragons were truly monsters, Arman isolates himself on the island to prevent himself from killing humans. Sensing the impending transition to dragon form, he went into the cave where the dragon could not escape and remained there until reverting to human form. He accidentally abducted Mira because of the ritual song sung at the wedding because dragons were believed extinct. The song caught Arman off guard and he did not have time to hide in the cave.

Arman wants to live as a man and crush his inner dragon because he is afraid of harming Mira. Mira talks with Arman and teaches him to live as a human. As they get to know one another, Arman and Mira fall in love although Mira is still afraid of the dragon. The island is bewitched so that only those who are loved by someone on the island can find the way to it. Because Mira's feelings toward Igor change as she falls in love with Arman, Igor searches futilely in a fog.

Mira's fear of the dragon causes her to secretly prepare a boat in order to escape. Learning of her preparations, Arman despairs of ever being able to control the dragon and reveals to Mira what happened to the other dragon brides. Dragons brought the sacrificed girls to the island and burned them to death. From the ashes a new dragon boy was born. Arman orders Mira to leave so that she will avoid this fate. Without Mira, Arman does not know how to continue living.

Mira returns home. While preparing for her wedding with Igor, Mira realizes that she loves Arman and cannot live without him. While on the boat, Mira sings the ritual song to call the dragon. Arman hears the song as he is ending his life and changes into the dragon. He recaptures Mira and brings her to the island intending to burn her. Mira does not show fear to the dragon and confesses her love for him. This allows Arman to finally control himself as a dragon.

Years later, Mira and Arman live together on the island with their human daughter. Mira flies on her dragon-husband, he is no longer dangerous to her, and they live happily ever after.

Cast

  • Maria Poezzhaeva[2] as Miroslava (Mira)
  • Matvey Lykov[2] as Arman
  • Stanislav Lyubshin[2] as Prince, Miroslava's father
  • Ieva Andrejevaite[2] as Yaroslava, Miroslava's sister
  • Pyotr Romanov[2] as Igor
  • Andrey Lebedinskiy as helmsman
  • Viktoriya Runtsova[2] as bride, a victim to the Dragon
  • Anastasiya Dubrovina as bride, a victim to the Dragon
  • Alyona Chekhova[2] as bride, a victim to the Dragon
  • Yuriy Gorin as father of the bride
  • Lyubov Firsova as mother of the bride
  • Yola Sanko as old woman-priestess
  • Darya Dubnikova as bride, a victim to the Dragon
  • Ivo Gospodinov as Arman boy
  • Egor Zubarchuk as Arman's father
  • Aleksandr Luchinin as Igor's grandfather
  • Viktor Korolyov as episode
  • Marta Timofeeva as daughter of Mira and Arman

Production

Filming

He's a Dragon was the feature film directorial debut of Indar Dzhendubaev. To the post of director he was invited by Timur Bekmambetov, who acted as the main producer of the film. Filming took place in the Black Sea.[4][5] According to the creators of the film, they have preserved much of the literary original, but at the same time brought new elements to the story. The film, 85% of which consisted of computer graphics, was drawn with the help of Russian computers. Posters for the film were created in a photo shoot by photo artist Uldus Bakhtiozina.[6]

Reception

The film was met with mixed reviews. Such publications as Film.ru,[7] and Afisha,[8] responded positively to the film. Others, in particular Mir Fantastiki,[9] Weburg,[10] The Hollywood Reporter,[11] rated it as average. Rossiyskaya Gazeta's review was strongly negative.[12]

Box office

The film flopped at the Russian box office, collecting $1.7 million, and in view of rentals in other CIS countries – $1.8 million, which is significantly less than the film's budget – $18 million. The film has grossed CN¥60.1 million at the Chinese box office.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "他是龙（2016）". cbooo.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "他是龙 Он - дракон (2015)". movie.douban.com (in Chinese). douban.com. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  3. ↑ "I Am Dragon". 4Digital Media. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  4. ↑ ""Он — дракон": первый тизер нового проекта Бекмамбетова". mail.ru.
  5. ↑ "Кинокомпания Бекмамбетова снимает фэнтези о драконе и силе любви". russkiymir.ru.
  6. ↑ "Новости компании - 04.12.2015". t-platforms.ru.
  7. ↑ Ivanov, Boris."Рецензия на фильм Он – дракон: В когтях страсти". Film.ru. [Review of the film He's a Dragon: In the clutches of passion] (in Russian).
  8. ↑ Dolin, Anton "Он – дракон Индара Джендубаева: Зверь сердечный". Afisha. [He's a Dragon Indar Dzhendubaev: Beast heart].
  9. ↑ Ptashkina, Ekaterina "Он – дракон: Фэнтези про стокгольмский синдром". Mir Fantastiki. [He's a Dragon: A fantasy about the Stockholm syndrome].
  10. ↑ Ilyukhin, Kirill "Он – дракон: Драконам нужны принцессы". Weburg. [He's a Dragon: Dragons need princesses].
  11. ↑ Ostashevsky, Dmitry "Рецензия: Он – дракон Индара Джендубаева с Марией Поезжаевой". The Hollywood Reporter. [Review: I Am Dragon by Indar Dzhendubaev with Mariya Poezzhaeva] (in Russian).
  12. ↑ Aleksei Litovchenko. "Любить скучно". Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.